Sharing | Jamilton

library

"So, do you have a shift at the coffee shop every day?" Thomas asked Alex one morning as Alex got ready to leave for work. Alex shook his head. "Then where are you going? It's still summer break, right?" Alex sighed and turned to Thomas.

"Yes, it's still summer break. It's literally Saturday; I wouldn't be going to school no matter what, idiot. Anyways, I have two jobs at the moment," Alex informed his host. Thomas raised his eyebrows.

"My god," Thomas said. "What's your second job?" Alex cringed.

"I may have told you about the barista thing, but I am never telling you about this one," Alex told him. Thomas shrugged.

"Well, I'm going to figure it out sooner or later," Thomas warned. Alex rolled his eyes.

"I have to get to work by 10, so I guess I'll see you later," Alex said.

"What time do you get off?" Thomas asked as Alex walked over to the door.

"4," Alex answered before he closed the door behind him. What place is open from 10 to 4 on Saturdays?

Thomas shrugged. He didn't have to show up at the office today; he never did on weekends. He opened up a book, but after ten or fifteen pages he decided to give up on it, feeling as though the plot was uninteresting and the main character was somewhat unlikable. He sighed and got all of his other books together to go to the library. Typically he went on Fridays, to get more books for the weekend, but since he had one book left he decided to wait until Saturday.

He drove for a couple of seconds but outside of the library stopped. He had a good relationship with the Friday librarians, to the point where he and they were all on a first name basis. But, he didn't know any of the Saturday librarians. Sure, there would be a couple of the same ones. He wasn't stupid enough to not realize that some of them worked there full-time. But, there would be a lot of different ones. Did he really want to go in there, when he wouldn't know a bunch of the people?

He contemplated this for nearly five minutes, and just as he was about to leave, and wait until next Friday, he saw his stack of books in the corner of his eye. His stack of horrible books. He had to have something to read, and there was no way he would read any of those. Thomas was fully aware that he was just a little too picky about his books, but he couldn't help it. Who wants to read a bad book?

Thomas sighed, getting out of his car. Even though he might have to go through awkward small talk with whatever librarian checked out his books for him, he desperately needed new books. He walked into the library, and the first thing he saw was a sweet lady who worked on Fridays, also. Maybe this wouldn't be so bad.

After half an hour, Thomas had four new books and was walking up to the counter to check out his books. The two librarians he knew were already busy with patrons, and there weren't any more librarians at the counter. Or so he thought. He made eye contact with one of the ladies, Martha, and she held up a finger to the man she was talking to, asking him to hold on for a sec.

"Alex, could you help out at the counter?" she called to a back room. Alex must be one of the Saturday employees. Thomas had never seen them here.

"Sure," called out a voice from the room. It sounded familiar. Thomas looked away, hoping that if he avoided eye contact with the person, they wouldn't try to talk with him awkwardly. The employee, who Thomas was pretty sure was a guy, walked over to the spot in front of Thomas. They looked up and said something under their breath.

"Shit."

"What?" Thomas snapped, whipping his head up. His mouth dropped. "Oh, Lord. Alex, holy shit. Your second job is a librarian?" Thomas asked. He wasn't sure whether he was more surprised or amused. Alex looked away, not responding to the question. "Sorry, I didn't mean that in a bad way, I was just surprised," Thomas said, noticing Alex's shame.

"Just shut up and let me do my job, Jefferson," Alex muttered. The Jefferson part stung a little bit. Alexander's cheeks were a bright red. Thomas sighed. He had fewer books than normal, so it didn't take Alex too long to finish checking them all out. "Have a good day. See you at like 4:30," Alex mumbled. Thomas felt a little guilty, even though he wasn't sure what for. He was about to walk out of the building when one thought came to mind.

"Is the shirt soft?" Thomas asked. Alexander gave him a strange look. "You're wearing one of the shirts from yesterday. Is it soft?" Alex, thankfully, smiled a little.

"Yeah, it is," he answered. "Seeya." Thomas smiled to himself as he walked out of the library. Maybe he should come on Saturdays more often.

Me, none but a child, in 2016: "Vine comps are sooo cringey, omg lol"

Me, a cultured individual, in 2018: "Vine comps are the only things in life that bring me true happiness"

I used Grammarly to check this chapter, so I hope the style doesn't seem weird. Idk, it was really helpful, but if it reads weird then just say something and I'll try to catch mistakes on my own